ISLAMABAD: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday selected Pakistan’s all-format captain, Babar Azam, as the skipper of its Men’s World T20I Team of the Year along with left-arm quickie Shaheen Shah Afridi and wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan.
The ICC put together a list of cricketers who outshone all others last year with stellar performances.
Babar Azam fearlessly led Pakistan to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup 2020 before the Men in Green were vanquished by the mighty Australians. Azam’s consistent knocks helped him become the leading run-scorer of the tournament, amassing an impressive 303 runs from six matches at an average of 60.60.
He scored four half-centuries in the tournament as well.
“His [Babar Azam’s] captaincy was also praised as he led his team to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup in UAE and Oman,” said the ICC on its website while stating the reason behind its decision to select him as captain of the team.
His opening partner Mohammad Rizwan finished as the third-highest run-scorer in the World Cup, with 281 runs from six matches at an average of 70.25.
“Aggregating a staggering 1326 runs in only 29 matches, Rizwan struck at an average of 73.66 and a strike-rate of 134.89,” the ICC said while acknowledging how Rizwan remained “as solid as ever behind the stumps” and helped Pakistan reach the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup.
Shaheen Afridi is the third Pakistani selected for the Men’s T20I Team of the Year. Pakistani fans relished his brilliant bowling display against India in Dubai on October 24 when he removed Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul earlier in the game to deal India a blow they never recovered from.
Afridi swung the new ball and introduced reverse swing with the old. His intelligent and disciplined bowling helped him pick 23 wickets from 21 matches at an average of 26.04 and an economy of 7.86.
Others who were selected beside the three Pakistanis are Jos Buttler, Aidan Markram, Mitchell Marsh, David Miller, Tabraiz Shamsi, Josh Hazlewood, Wanindu Hasaranga and Mustafizur Rahman.
ICC’s Men’s T20I Team of the Year did not feature any cricketer from India.